Open Thread: Stuck in Backward

Fair Game (4.00 / 1)

Wednesday I saw the new movie "Fair Game" recounting the lies used and lives destroyed by Bush, Rove, Cheney and Scooter. It is the extraordinary retelling of the Joe Wilson / Valerie Plame nightmare.

Anyone needing a battery "recharge" after the election should see this movie over the weekend. Once again Sean Penn is brilliant and it is well worth your time.


2012 starts today.

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by: Ray Buckley @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 06:35:03 AM CST

I've been waiting for this movie, the previews looked good. (0.00 / 0)

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by: xrk9854 @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 14:40:30 PM CST

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Glory Days (0.00 / 0)

of Loeb and Thomson...

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by: ruthcserr @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 07:01:53 AM CST

Who coined Catfood Commission? (0.00 / 0)

Does anyone know? We owe that man or woman a medal.

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by: JimC @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 10:55:59 AM CST

I'm sorry for being ignorant. (0.00 / 0)

But could someone explain the term to me?

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by: xrk9854 @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 14:50:00 PM CST

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Sure (4.00 / 1)

It may be a somewhat dated reference, but people used to speak of seniors buying catfood -- the implication being that they couldn't afford regular food. It was probably never true in real life (for one thing, catfood aint that cheap).

Ergo, "Catfood Commission" implies that messing with Social Security will lead many more of us to a similar fate than would otherwise be so.

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by: JimC @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 14:59:18 PM CST

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Thank you. (4.00 / 1)

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by: xrk9854 @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 15:19:18 PM CST

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Thanks for asking (0.00 / 0)

We use too much shorthand sometimes. Not ignorant at all to ask.

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by: JimC @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 15:26:55 PM CST

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not dated - classic n/t (4.00 / 1)

member of the professional left  

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by: susanthe @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 20:37:59 PM CST

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Bruce Webb's trying to track it down: (4.00 / 1)

Linky.

Digby and Jane Hamsher current candidates. Atrios started using it early...

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by: elwood @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 15:23:21 PM CST

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One thing that continues to be (4.00 / 1)

misunderstood by both the left and right is how devastating the economy is to millions of Americans.  I feel like a broken record, but 10% unemployment and 17% U-6 is catastrophic.  Everything else is second to the economy.

The mortgage foreclosure crisis is about to get worse and I simply have no hope that the Republicans have any incentive to improve the economy.  You can get the pom-poms out if you want, but the lost opportunities of the past two years will haunt Democrats for generations.

BTW, I'm seeing some mild relief in some commentators because the president seems to have backed-off Axlerod's comments on the tax cuts.  I've read and re-read that statement and see nothing in it that gives me any confidence that the WH will not capitulate.  Quite the contrary, Obama is desperate for a deal and the Rs are drawing lines in the sand.  The president merely repackaged Axlerod's comments, not reaffirm any principle for which he will fight.

I'm an Obama supporter, I pay attention, and I don't know what he stands for.  How can the Democrats possibly expect Jane Q. Public to know?

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein

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by: StraffordDem @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 11:41:09 AM CST

To build on what you said... (0.00 / 0)

Teabaggers slashing the social safety net could be truly catastrophic.

Speaking of being disillusioned with the president: We in the LGBT community have been quite frustrated for the last year.  For example I just found out that when a gay soldier is separated under DADT, even if it's under honorable conditions, they only receive HALF the separation pay straight soldiers get.  Not only are we going to toss you out, but we're going to rob you of thousands of dollars as well.  I guess someone's filing a lawsuit about this unfair practice right now (The administration has done nothing on the issue).

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by: xrk9854 @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 14:48:30 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Perhaps the presidency is an over-rated (4.00 / 2)

political office that is incapable of resisting the institutional bias for the status quo regardless of the occupant.  The malapportionment and archaic rules of our governing institutions combine to thwart significant change.  The game is played at the edges with no real threat to the existing power bases.

In this context, it is a small leap to look at the election in terms of a referendum on politics as usual exploited by an opposition party.  This makes some sense to me because almost every public survey I've read reflects that Americans prefer Democrats to Republicans, and supports progressive policies, including the health care act.  Not to mention the significant majority of Americans, including military families, who support the repeal of DADT.

Our job, then, if we want to create the change we want to see, is to begin to build new power networks and develop alternatives.  We have to organize if we have any hope of pressuring the political system to move on our behalf.  

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein

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by: StraffordDem @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 16:22:12 PM CST

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Ouch (0.00 / 0)

Michael Steele gets a challenger -- his "first" challenger, per Chris C.

"We cannot be misled by our victories this year," Anuzis wrote in an announcement posted on his blog. "Chairman Steele's record speaks for itself. He has his way of doing things. I have mine."

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by: JimC @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 14:43:26 PM CST

Bundle Up, Kids. It's Time For Bed. (0.00 / 0)

LIHEAP begins to wither

DERRY, N.H. (AP) -- A state official says heating assistance for low income New Hampshire residents could be cut in half this winter.
-snip

Morin says there are an estimated 188,000 New Hampshire families that qualify for heating assistance, but only the first 25,000 to apply are guaranteed help.

This will not be the last of this sort of thing.

Whack-a-mole, anyone?

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 18:59:53 PM CST

Ah, the bad old days are here again.... (4.00 / 1)

...like when Judd Gregg won Powerball and voted against LIHEAP funds on the same day.

Glad I got my wood stacked.  Still haven't turned the heat on yet.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 19:36:52 PM CST

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as we used to say in the bad old days (0.00 / 0)

the NH motto: Live, Freeze, and Die!  

member of the professional left  

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by: susanthe @ Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 20:40:36 PM CST

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